Improvement in steam-generators



sngfl/ MFETERS, PHOTO-LxTHoGRAPHER. WASHINGTOND 6A tied gitarre @anni ttime,

Letters Patent No. 109,616, dated November 29, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT-'IN sTEAM-eENEnA-rons.

The 'Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesanne,

` I, JOHN HOUPT, of Springtown, in the county of 4Bucks and State ofleiinsylvania, have invented certain further Improvements in Condensersfor Marinelngines, of which the following is a specification.

.Nature and Objects of the Intention.

My present improvements relate, generally, to the employment of aplurality of condensers for a single steam-cylinder describedin LettersPatent granted to me on the 18th day of May, 1869, but, more especially,to certain improvements, in condensers for which Letters Patent weregranted to nic on the 19th day of A pril, 1870, and to certain furtherimprovements in condensers for marine-engines described in anapplication filed by me in the United States Patent Ofiice March 24th,1870.v

The first part of my present invention relates to the construction of acomparatively small primary jet condenser and an air-pump attached,l tooperate together in combination with a Valve, and with lasteampassage-way, which communicates with both exhausts of thesteani-cylinder ofan engine and with a tertiary conductor in sncli amanner as `to allow only a small remnant of the exhauststeam coming fromthe said cylinder to be condensed by a jet-spray of sea-water, in thesaid primary condenser, to produce the required -vacuum before thepiston, immediately after the first putt or main portion of the saidexhaust-steam has been discharged through the said valve and passagewaytoward the tertiary condenser for the production of fresh water for thesteam-generators of the engine; the object ot' this part of my inventionbeing to proride for the passage ofthe main portion of the escapesteamtoward the tertiary condenser, to more ecectually prevent any saline'apoi' which may arise from the condensing water ot' the jet-'spray inthe said primary from reaching the tertiary condenser, and also for thepurpose of furnishing the water of condensation for the steam-generatorsof a higher degree of temperature than can be furnished by the ordinarycondenscrs which are intended to produce a vacuum.

The second part ot' my present iiiventiou relates to the constructionand arrangement of a secondary chamber or evaporator, incombination withthe escape-steam passage-way which leads from' the exhausts of thesteam-cylinder to the tertiary condenser, and with the liet-water'discharge-pipe of the primary condenser, the object of this part ofiny`invei'ition being to produce an additional amount of vapor free fromany salines, to compensate for the loss of that portion which iscondensed by the saline jet-spray in the primary condenser.

ihe third part of my invention relates to the combination, with theexhaust-steam passage-way, ot a supplementary furnace and'boiler orsteam-generator in such a manner that aqueous vapor, free trom anysalines, may be furnished thereby to the said steam passage-way whennecessary, the object of thisV part of my invention beingto afford amore simple and inexpensive means of making up for the loss of thefresltwater vapor vcondense-d in the primarycondenser.' p

Description 'of the Drawing.

Figure l is a vertical section representing the steamcyiinder of anengine with its exhausts in communition with the steam passage-way,primary `1ct-con` denser7 andthe secondary chamber or evaporator, withtheir respective attachments, arranged substantially in thesame'vertical planefor the purpose ot better illiist-ration.

Figure 2 is a like section of the saine parts, modi-- ed so as tooperate without the secondaryveliamber or evaporator.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the tertiary condenser, with itsfresh-water reservoir and air-pump attached. v

General Description.

gine, a its piston, and a e" its exhausts, in eommu-v nication with thesteam passage-way Bythe primary jet-condenser C, the secondary chamberor evaporator D, and the head or drum E of the tertiary condenser;

In' the passage-way B, near its junction ,with the two exhausts, a," a,ofthe cylinder A, avalve-chamber, b, is made,in which a spindle-valve,b", is fittedl to be opened upward and closed downward by a positivemotion derived .through a connecting-rod, 1i",l

from any suitable moving part of the engine, so as.

to alternately open and close the passage-way B at a point directlyabove the primary condenserC.

The primary condenser C is surroundedby a ease.Av containing coldvsea-water, c", and hasa yet-spraypipe, c', for the discharge of coldsea-water from thesurrounding case into the condenser in a steady spray,regulated by an adjustable stop-cock, c, and has also communicating withits lower end an air-pump, 0',

operated in a positive manner by any suitable moving part of the engine,so as to draw out and force overboard, through a pipe, 0*, the air andthe water of condensation deposited in the said condenser.

The upper end of vthe condenser C communicates with the passage-way B ata point directly below the valve b,'and has at this part a slide-vaivec5, operated'in a positive manner by any'suitable moving part of theengine in such a manner as to be closed when the valve b opens, and openimmediately after .vacuum thus produced before the returning piston,

which, having nearly returned, `the valve 0" closes and the air and thewarm water of condensation are drawn out of the condenser O and forcedoverboard through the pipe c by the air-pump c'. l

The evaporating or secondary chamber D is a capacious oval-shaped vesselsupported in a comparatively elevated position, and into this the steampassage-way B opens, (see ii". l.) l

The said chamber I) has a bent pipe, d', within it,

y which is constructed with a series of very minute jetspray openings,d" ll", controllable by a hand-screw stem, d', tted with a stopper atits lower end, so that either one, two, or all of s'aid jet-openings maybe stopped or opened at pleasure, and this bent pipe 1L communicateswiththe pipe c' and is fitted with a valve, di, operated in a positivemanner by any suita. ble moving part ofthe engine, so as to let warmwater pass periodically from the pipe c4 into the chamber l), the objectbeing to produce an additional supply of fresh-water vapor bythecvaporating effect of the high steam, from the steam-passage way 13 uponthe saline water from the spray-jets d." df', to compensate for the lossoccasioned by the condensation of the steam in the primary condenser C.

The lower end of this chzunber D is provided with a series of try-cocks,6 6 G, by which the height of the water therein may bereadilyascertained, and also with an evacuatiug-pipe, 7, fitted with astop-cock, 8, aud opening into a chamber, 9, which communicates with aforce-pump, F, whereby the water in the said chamber l) can' be drawnout and forced overboard when necessary.

For the purpose of affording a ready means for washing out any salinedeposits which vmay in time accumulate ou the bottom of the saidevaporatingchamber D, an inlet pipe, 10, fitted with a stop-cock, isfixed to communicate with the said bottom and the warm-water pipe ci;and for the purpose of affording a ready means of warming uptheevaporator D before starting the engine, and also of increasingVthequantity of'fiesh-water vapor, should there not be a sufficiencyprovided by the action of the steam upon the spr. y-water in the 4saidevaporatiiig-chamber D, a supplementary evaporator isprovided',consisting of a boiler, G, fitted with a steam-pipe, g', whichpasses vertically up through the bottom of D and opens into the upperend ot' the san1e,a gravit-ating-valve g" being applied over the openend ofthe said pipe.

The saidboiler is supported and heated by a small special-furnace, g,and receives its supply of water from the warm-water pipe c, through acommunicatingpipe, g, which is provided with a stop-cock.

As the supplementary boiler G will "probably be s/ufiicient to furnishthe required amount of fresh-water vapor to compensate in the greaternumber of marineengines for that lost in the primary condenser, theevaporating-chamber 1) may, in such cases, be dispensed with entirely,and the boiler G relied upon to makeup the deficient amount of vapor, bymodifying the stealn-passage-way B and opening the valved end of thepipe y'of the boiler G directly into the said pipe orV steam-passage-wayl5, as represented in fig. 2. This modification has the advantage alsoof being much less costly in construction.

',lhe tertiary condenser, (see fig. 3,) consists .of a series ofinclined condensing-cases a' c', constructed and operating in connectionwith a reservoir for the wat-cr produced, in the manner described in myapplication filed in the Patent Ofiice on the 24th day of March, 1870,as before stated; but in my present invention I apply an air-pump, H, soarranged and operated between the condenser and the reservoir I as toproduce a sufficient vacuum in the condensers to facilil tate, theescape-steam through. the steam-passage-way B -into the said tertiarycondenser without any more expenditure of power in working the saidair-pump H than will be sufficient to produce the said partial vacuum,and without straining the sliding joints, as aforesaid. i

ln the operation of my present invention it will be understood that, asthere is but a small remnant of the exhaust-steam to be condensed in theprimary condenser O, the temperature therein can be more quicklyreduced, and to a lower degree and therefore a more sudden and bettervacuum be produced and maintained in front ofthe piston than heretofore.

y It will also be understood that, as theinain port-ion of theexhaust-steam passes into the tertiary coudenser, only the small remnantcondensed in the primary has to he provided'in order to keep up the fullsupply of fresh water foi" the lsteam-generators, and that therefore themode of producing this deficiency hy means of the evaporating-ehamber Dand the sup plementary boiler G, as represented in fig. 1, or hy meansof the. boiler G alone, as represented in fig2, will be sufficient toproduce lnore'vapor than will be required.

' Although it is believed that the vapor produced by the action of thehigh steam upon the very minute spray-jets of thc saline water comingfromthe pipe c* will be free from any saline matter, still I prefer themodification shown in iig. 2, first, because the vapor generator orboiler G is `much more distant, and theref'orethe vapor will thc morecertainly be free from any salines by the time it reaches theoutlet-valve g" in the top of the pipe g', and second, `because it ismuch less costly of construction.

The partial vacuum produced inthe tertiary eondenser by means of theair-pump H t-will be evident must facilitate the passage of the steamand vapor through the steam-passage-way B into the condenser byreleasing the latter of a part of the air that may be contained therein.

Claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. 'lhe primary condenser C and air-pump e'",in combination with the valve l1 and steam-passage-\vay B, thc saidparts being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and forthe purposes -herein' before set forth.

2. The secondarychamber or evaporator D, in combination with theescape-steam passage-way B and the hot-water discharge-pipe 0*, the saidparts being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and forthe purpose hereinbcfore set forth.

3. The supplementary boiler G, furnace g', and pipe g', in combinationwith the escape steam-passageway l, when arranged substantially as showniufig. 2, for the purpose hereinbefore speciiied.- i

. JOHN HQUPT. Witnesses Bum. Montsox, Wim H. MolusoN.

